Last week I shared with you some of my thoughts on a powerful biography I read on the life of missionary Hudson Taylor entitled Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. This week I would simply like to share with you some of my favorite quotes of Taylor’s, along with a few concluding remarks.
“The soul that is starved cannot rejoice in the Lord.”
“I feel as if I cannot live if something is not done for China.”
“God’s love is unfailing, his word unchangeable, his power ever the same; therefore, the heart that trusts him is kept in perfect peace…I know he tries me only to increase my faith, and that it is all in love. Well, if he is glorified, I am content.”
“Money wrongly placed and money given from wrong motives are both greatly to be dreaded.”
“I am taking my children with me [to China], and I notice it is not difficult to remember that they need breakfast in the morning, dinner at midday and supper at night. Indeed, I could not forget them if I tried. And I find it impossible to think that our heavenly Father is less tender and mindful of his children than I, a poor earthly father, am of mine. No, He will not forget us!”
“Oh, to be married to a wife that you do love, and love most tenderly and devotedly…that is bliss beyond the power of words to express or imagination conceive. There is no disappointment there.”
On the death of his 8-year-old daughter: “Our dear little Gracie! How we miss her sweet voice in the morning, one of the first sounds to greet us when we woke, and through the day and at eventide! Is it possible that I shall nevermore feel the pressure of that little hand…nevermore see the sparkle of those bright eyes? And yet she is not lost. I would not have her back again. I am thankful that she was taken rather than any of the others, though she was the sunshine of our lives. Pray for us. At times, I seem almost overwhelmed with the internal and external trials connected with our work. But he has said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,’ and ‘My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore… so be it.”
“Over a thousand pounds less has been contributed during the first half of this year than last year. Let us pray in faith for funds, that we may not have to diminish our work.”
“On him then reckon, to him look, on him depend: and be assured that if you walk with him, look to him and expect help from him, he will never fail you. He has never failed me; but because I was enabled by his grace to trust in him, he has always appeared for my help. I delight in speaking well of his Name.”
“He is most holy who has most of Christ within, and joys most fully in the finished work. It is defective faith which clogs the feet and cause many a fall. Christ is literally all to me now, the power – the only power – for service, the only ground for unchanging joy.”
“It little matters to my Chinese helper whether I send him to buy a few dollars’ worth of goods or the most expensive articles. In either case, he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases. So, if God should place me in serious perplexity, must he not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? No fear that his resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And his resources are mine, for he is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.”
“From my inmost soul I delight in the knowledge that God does or permits all things, and causes all things to work together for good to those who love him.”
These are but a few of my favorite quotes from Hudson Taylor. His biography also details the incredible faithfulness, hard work, and commitment of both his first and second wives as they labored alongside him in missions. I heartily recommend this biography to you. You will be blessed if you take the time to feed your soul learning in the school of Christ with this great man of faith.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym